Air Force on Secret Space Plane: Nothing to See Here, Move Along

The Air Force has news for anyone looking for sinister motives behind the flying branch’s latest orbital gizmo: the mysterious, high-tech X-37B space plane. The 29-foot-long robotic shuttle — vaguely labeled a “test asset” by the Pentagon — returned to earth on Friday after 224 days, nine hours and 24 minutes in space. In those eight months, observers speculated that the X-37 might be a prototype bomber, a satellite-snatching snoop or a speedy, quick-reacting sensor platform. Forget it, Richard McKinney, Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for Space Programs, said Monday. “I applaud the ingenuity and innovation of some reports, but really it’s as described. This is a test vehicle, pure and simple.”

But a test vehicle for what? Well, for testing, McKinney said. The way he described it, the X-37 should eventually function as an orbital laboratory for new satellite components and other space gear — pricey stuff that today gets boosted into the heavens with very little realistic testing. “If we could place technology in orbit, check it out and bring back to earth, that would be significant accomplish,” he said. “The purpose of this particular mission was the vehicle. In order do the other things we talked about … we’ve got to have a vehicle to do that.”

All the same, the X-37 did carry something in its payload bay during its inaugural flight — something secret, McKinney admitted. “It’s not unusual for us to put satellites into orbit that are classified. This is no different than that.”

One minute, the Air Force laughs off speculation regarding the X-37 as “innovation.” The next, it mentions a secret payload and gives reporters the whole “move along, move along” routine. If the X-37 really is an innocent space lab, why does the Air Force’s communications strategy seem designed to imply otherwise? It’s a trap military agencies often set for themselves with science and technology projects: fearful of misspeaking or spilling secrets, they wind up playing linguistic games — or saying little at all. It only fuels the conspiracies.

Theories are bound to proliferate. “We’re really at the beginning of it,” McKinney said of the space plane’s testing. Boeing is building a second X-37, currently slated to launch atop an Atlas rocket in the spring. Meanwhile, the recently-returned original model will get a thorough looking-over to determine whether any tweaks are needed. Already, the Air Force knows it might want better tires: one popped on landing.